Solutions

This tutorial takes you through how to hollow out one of your unwanted hardback books into a hiding place to keep your treasures out of sight.

Approximate Time: 30 minutes

Supplies:

craft knife

mod podge

foam brush

hard back book

ruler

marker or pen

Instructions:

First, grab a book you don't mind re-purposing. (Sorry to anyone who loves "Among Thieves")

Next, get the ruler. Make sure that it is a fairly long book, as this will lend more stability to your hollow book. Open it up to page 40 or so and with your ruler and marker draw a border around much of the printed area. This will be the area that you will be cutting out with your knife.

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Press your craft knife as hard down as possible with cutting into the shape so that you can go through more than a page or two at a time. You have a lot of pages to go through and a life, so the more you can get through the better. After the initial pages are cut, there is no need to continue marking out the remaining pages as you will keep cutting within the boundaries of what has already been cut. Continue cutting out pages until there is around 1/5-1/4 of the book left. It is important to stop at this point as going any further will lessen the stability of your hollow book.

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Now is the time for the mod podge and foam brush. Dip your brush into the mod podge and trace around the page every 10-20 pages. DO NOT glue around the first page that you cut into as this will glue your book closed.

Then glue around the outside of the book on the pages that have been cut, making sure to leave the first 10-20 pages free as this will lend a more realistic book look to the finished product.

To get the best seal on the pages place the book under something heavy such as a weight or chair. Let the book rest there until dry. I usually just leave them out overnight and they are good in the morning.

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Now you, or your kiddos, have a place to hide your important things. Like your Magic Wiggly Worms.